Tag Archives: insects

As I Watch is another picture book I’ve had the privilege of illustrating. Written by Chitra Sounder and published by Guardian Angel Publishing, this simple yet beautiful book describes the life-cycle of a butterfly.

Designed especially for the youngest readers, As I Watch follows the development of the insect from egg, to larva, to caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly and back to egg again. It’s a great starting point for a unit study about butterflies or insects in general. The illustrations are done in oils and realistically depict the tiger swallowtail butterfly.

If you have young children and are interested in doing a unit study on butterflies, here are some other online resources you might find helpful:

EnchantedLearning.com – This site has so much information for young butterfly enthusiasts! While you may need to pay a small membership fee to access all of the worksheets, it’s well-worth it. They’ve even organized all of the information into a hypertext book, covering topics such as butterflies and moths, defense mechanisms, classification, butterfly gardens, and butterfly anatomy. You’ll also find printouts featuring the lifecycle.

ParentingOurKids.com – Among many other resources, this site also offers butterfly lesson plans. Some of these are complete lessons in themselves, while others are links to worksheets and puzzles. All would be good additions to your unit study!

Glorious-Butterfly.com – – While this site isn’t particularly a schooling site, you’ll find some great ideas for butterfly study here as well. The lesson plans focus on the monarch butterfly, its development, and migration.

InsectLore.com – This site sells the life cycle kits for various insects, including butterflies. For about $20.00 you can get a kit with a coupon for live caterpillars.

Enjoy a butterfly study with your children — and watch the wonder of nature together!

A while ago, I wrote about the “I Love You Bigger” game. My youngest child Luke (age 5) and I play the game every now and then. I begin by saying, “I love you bigger than a tree,” and he would replies with something like, “I love you bigger than a house.” Throughout the game I try to choose larger and larger objects, although he often just chooses whatever comes to mind first.

The other night, while we were snuggling on the couch watching television, Luke started our game again. I was surprised, because we hadn’t played it for a while.

“Mom, I love you more than….” He paused. “….more than …vegetables!”

Now, I know Luke does not like vegetables, and I wondered just where this was going. So I said, “I love you more than…kitty litter.”

Luke smiled and thought for a moment. “I love you more than garbage.”

“Ooooo,” I said. “That’s a tough one to beat. I love you more than a squished bug.”

“Oooo,” he repeated. “Well, I love you more than… blood on a dead bird.” Okay, now I’m beginning to wonder what he and his sisters have been looking at outside.

“That’s gross!” I exclaimed. “I love you more than… a dried up worm.”

Luke was quiet for just a minute. “Well, I love you more than a dead fox.” I wasn’t sure why we were focusing on road kill, but he soon came back with another one. “And I love you more than a giant beetle.”

I took that one. “I’m so glad!” I said as we laughed, and we went back to watching the show.